Extrusion forming apparatus, method using the same, and product therefrom

ABSTRACT

An extrusion forming apparatus includes a mold disposed in a front open end of an extruding channel of a housing, a holding seat disposed in front of the front open end and partially extending into the extruding channel to abut the mold, and a vibrating source connected to the housing in abutment with the holding seat and controllable to apply an ultrasonic energy to the mold through the holding seat. An extrusion forming method is carried out by the extrusion forming apparatus. An extruded product is made by the extrusion forming method using the extrusion forming apparatus.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority to Taiwanese Invention Patent Application No. 108144901, filed on Dec. 9, 2019.

FIELD

The disclosure relates to a forming apparatus, and more particularly to an extrusion forming apparatus, a method using the same and the product manufactured therefrom.

BACKGROUND

A linear slide is typically a sliding type conveying component used for a machine tool or semiconductor equipment. Except some large size linear slides made of aluminum alloy to reduce weight, most of linear slides are made from steel. Because steel is a hardly formable material, it is usually processed by rolling, drawing, annealing, followed by a small amount of machining to form a linear slide. Such a multi-step manufacturing process is complicated and inefficient. An alternative process utilizes a large amount of machining to machine and form a metal ingot into a linear slide. This manufacturing process produces a large amount of scrap, decreases material usage rate, and increases manufacturing costs.

SUMMARY

Therefore, one object of the disclosure is to provide an extrusion forming apparatus capable of extrusion forming a hardly formable metal.

According to the disclosure, an extrusion forming apparatus includes a housing, a mold, an extruding rod, a holding seat, and a vibrating source.

The housing has an extruding channel.

The mold is disposed in the extruding channel and located at a front open end of the extruding channel.

The extruding rod is movably disposed in the extruding channel. A front end of the extruding rod is disposed in a rearward of the mold.

The holding seat is disposed in front of the housing. The holding seat has a rear end partially extending into the extruding channel and abuts against the mold.

The vibrating source is controllable to apply an ultrasonic wave energy to the mold through the holding seat.

Another object of this disclosure is to provide an extrusion forming method by using the extrusion forming apparatus.

Accordingly an extrusion forming method of the disclosure includes: preheating an ingot; activating the vibrating source of the extrusion forming apparatus; placing the ingot in the extruding channel of the housing; and operating the extruding rod to press forwardly the ingot so that the ingot is extruded through and shaped by the mold wherein an ultrasonic wave energy of the vibrating source is applied to the ingot through the mold.

Still another object of this disclosure is to provide an extruded product made by the method using the extrusion forming apparatus.

Accordingly, an extruded product of the disclosure comprises a U-shaped channel made of steel, which includes a longitudinal base wall and two longitudinal left and right walls extending upwardly from two opposite ends of the longitudinal base wall and spaced apart from each other. The longitudinal left and right walls and the longitudinal base wall define a longitudinal groove.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Other features and advantages of the disclosure will become apparent in the following detailed description of the embodiment with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which:

FIG. 1 is a sectional view illustrating an extrusion forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

FIGS. 2 to 5 illustrate consecutive steps carried out in an extrusion forming method using the extrusion forming apparatus for extruding an ingot;

FIG. 6 illustrates the ingot pressed and shaped through a mold of the extrusion forming apparatus by the extrusion forming method;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view illustrates an extruded product made by the method using the extrusion forming apparatus; and

FIG. 8 is a front view illustrate the mold of the extrusion forming apparatus.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 illustrates an extrusion forming apparatus 1 according to an embodiment of the disclosure for extruding and shaping an ingot 2. The ingot 2 is made of a hardly formable material. The hardly formable material may be a high strength, high hardness steel or other similar metallic material. The extrusion forming apparatus 1 includes a housing 11, a mold 12, an extruding rod 13, a pressing plate 14, a holding seat 15, and a vibrating source 16.

The housing 11 has an extruding channel 111.

The mold 12 is disposed in the extruding channel 111 and at a front open end of the extruding channel 111. As shown in FIG. 8, the mold 12 has a shaping hole 121 that is defined by a flat bottom boundary surface 122, two spaced-apart flat left and right boundary surfaces 124 extending upwardly from the flat bottom boundary surface 122, and a U-shaped boundary surface 123 that connects between the flat left and right boundary surfaces 124 oppositely of the flat bottom boundary surface 122. The mold 12 allows passage of the ingot 2 such that the ingot 2 is shaped by the shaping hole 121.

The extruding rod 13 is movably disposed in the extruding channel 111. A front end of the extruding rod 13 is disposed in a rearward of the mold 12. The extruding rod 13 is driven by an actuator (not shown, e.g., a hydraulic cylinder) to move forwardly to the mold 12. Because moving the extruding rod 13 with the actuator is generally known in the art, further detail will not be provided herein.

The pressing plate 14 is disposed between the extruding rod 13 and the mold 12 in the extruding channel 111. A pressing space 17 is formed between the pressing plate 14 and the mold 12.

The holding seat 15 is disposed in front of the front open end of the extruding channel 111. The holding seat 15 has a rear end partially extending into the extruding channel 111 and abuts against the mold 12.

The vibrating source 16 is fixed to a front end of the housing 11 and abuts against the holding seat 15. The vibrating source 16 is controllable to apply an ultrasonic wave energy to the mold 12 through the holding seat 15.

In order for extruding the ingot 2, an extrusion forming method using the extrusion forming apparatus 1 is described below.

As shown in FIG. 2, the extrusion forming apparatus 1 is in a preliminary state, where the ingot 2 and the housing 11 are preheated. Before being preheated, the ingot 2 is polished and sandblasted, and is coated with a high temperature lubricant. In this preliminary state, only the housing 11, the holding seat 15, and the vibrating source 16 are assembled together.

Referred to FIG. 3, the mold 12 impregnated with a water glass is placed in the extruding channel 111 and abuts against the holding seat 15. When the vibrating source 16 is activated to vibrate, the vibrating source 16 applies an ultrasonic wave energy to the holding seat 15. The vibration frequency of the vibrating source 16 ranges between 20 and 32 KHz. The holding seat 15 transmits the vibration to the mold 12 through a contact interface therebetween. Due to the vibration, the water glass is evenly spread on the mold 12 to increase lubricity. In this embodiment, the ingot 2 is made of a medium carbon steel, e.g., S45C. However, the ingot 2 may be made of other carbon steels, or titanium or nickel-based alloys.

The ingot 2 is coated with glass sand before being placed in the extruding channel 111. Afterwards, as shown in FIG. 4, the ingot 2 is placed in the extruding channel 111. Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 5, the pressing plate 14 is disposed in the extruding channel 111; the ingot 2 is disposed in the pressing space 17 between the pressing plate 14 and the mold 12. The ultrasonic vibration generated from the vibrating source 16 is transmitted through the mold 12 to the ingot 2. As such , the glass sand is evenly spread on the ingot 2 to increase lubricity.

As shown in FIG. 6, the extruding rod 13 is placed in the extruding channel 111 and operated to push forward the pressing plate 14. The pressing space 17 is therefore reduced, and the ingot 2 is pressed and extruded through the mold 12 and shaped by the mold 12, thereby forming a raw extruded linear slide.

During the extrusion of the ingot 2 through the mold 12, the ultrasonic vibration generated from the vibrating source 16 can reduce the yield stress of the ingot 2, increase formability, and reduce surface oxidation and decarburization of the ingot 2. In addition, the ultrasonic vibration can reduce friction and deformation resistance. By virtue of the vibrating source 16, the extrusion forming method of the disclosure can overcome prior art problems in extrusion-forming hardly formable steels having high deformation resistance.

FIG. 7 illustrates an extruded product 3 made by the extrusion forming method using the extrusion forming apparatus 1. The extruded product 3 in this embodiment is a linear slide, and comprises a U-shaped channel made of steel. The extruded product 3 includes a longitudinal base wall 31 and two longitudinal left and right walls 32 extending upwardly from two opposite ends of the longitudinal base wall 31 and spaced apart from each other. The longitudinal left and right walls 32 and the longitudinal base wall 31 define a longitudinal groove 321. The longitudinal base wall 31 and the longitudinal left and right walls 32 have outer surfaces that are flat, and inner surfaces that cooperate to form a contoured surface of U-shape. In other embodiments, the extruded product 3 may be provided with a complicated contoured surface, such as a dentate surface, or a multi-curved surface. Therefore, hardly formable steel products may have a wide range of shapes.

In the description above, for the purposes of explanation, numerous specific details have been set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiment. It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art, that one or more other embodiments maybe practiced without some of these specific details. It should also be appreciated that reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment,” “an embodiment,” an embodiment with an indication of an ordinal number and so forth means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic may be included in the practice of the disclosure. It should be further appreciated that in the description, various features are sometimes grouped together in a single embodiment, figure, or description thereof for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure and aiding in the understanding of various inventive aspects, and that one or more features or specific details from one embodiment may be practiced together with one or more features or specific details from another embodiment, where appropriate, in the practice of the disclosure.

While the disclosure has been described in connection with what is considered the exemplary embodiment, it is understood that this disclosure is not limited to the disclosed embodiment but is intended to cover various arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent arrangements. 

What is claimed is:
 1. An extrusion forming apparatus, comprising: a housing having an extruding channel; a mold disposed in said extruding channel and located at a front open end of said extruding channel; an extruding rod movably disposed in said extruding channel, a front end of said extruding rod being disposed in a rearward of said mold; a holding seat disposed in front of said housing, said holding seat having a rear end partially extending into said extruding channel and abutting against said mold; and a vibrating source controllable to apply an ultrasonic wave energy to said mold through said holding seat.
 2. The extrusion forming apparatus as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a pressing plate disposed between said extruding rod and said mold in said extruding channel, a pressing space being formed between said pressing plate and said mold.
 3. The extrusion forming apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said vibrating source is fixed to a front end of said housing and abuts against said holding seat.
 4. An extrusion forming method by using an extrusion forming apparatus as claimed in claim 1, comprising: preheating an ingot; activating the vibrating source of the extrusion forming apparatus; placing the ingot in the extruding channel of the housing; and operating the extruding rod to press forwardly the ingot so that the ingot is extruded through and shaped by the mold, wherein an ultrasonic wave energy of the vibrating source is applied to the ingot through the mold.
 5. The extrusion forming method as claimed in claim 4, wherein a pressing plate is disposed in the extruding channel of the housing between the extruding rod and the mold, the ingot is placed in the extruding channel by being disposed between the pressing plate and the mold, and the extruding rod is operated to push forward the pressing plate so that the ingot is pressed and extruded through the mold and shaped.
 6. The extrusion forming method as claimed in claim 4, wherein the ingot is coated with a high temperature lubricant with the ingot before being placed in the extruding channel.
 7. The extrusion forming method as claimed in claim 4, wherein the ingot is coated with glass sand before being placed in the extruding channel.
 8. The extrusion forming method as claimed in claim 4, wherein the ingot is made of steel.
 9. The extrusion forming method as claimed in claim 4, wherein the vibration frequency of the vibrating source ranges between 20 and 32 KHz.
 10. An extruded product made by the method as claimed
 4. m 4 using the extrusion forming apparatus as claimed in claim 1, comprising a U-shaped channel made of steel and including a longitudinal base wall, and two longitudinal left and right walls extending upwardly from two opposite ends of said longitudinal base wall and spaced apart from each other, said longitudinal left and right walls and said longitudinal base wall defining a longitudinal groove. 